Abstract
The concept of consumption community, first proposed by historian Daniel Boorstin, claims that in the modern era of high mobility, people look not only to neighborhood as a basis for feelings of community but also to communality of consumption behavior (e.g., drinking the same brand of beer). The idea was tested cross-nationally by administering a newly devised psychological sense of community (PSC) scale to more than 100 adult respondents in Belgium and a like number in the U.S. The findings support Boorstin in that for both national samples, PSC values for consumption items were generally positive and consistent with social science theoretical expectations. Implications of the study findings are discussed for theory and social policy.
Zusammenfassung
Das Konzept der Konsumgemeinschaft von Boorstin: Eine Geschichte von zwei Ländern. Das Konzept der Konsumgemeinschaft, erstmals durch den Historiker Daniel Boorstin vorgestellt, behauptet, da\ im heutigen Zeitalter hoher Mobilität der Einzelne sein Gemeinschaftsgefühl nicht nur durch seine Beziehung aus der direkten Nachbarschaft bezieht, sondern auch aus der Gemeinsamkeit bestimmter Konsumverhaltensweisen (z. B. das Trinken derselben Biermarke). Diese Idee wurde empirisch geprüft durch eine ländervergleichende Untersuchung, in der eine neu entwickelte psychologische Skala für den Gemeinschaftssinn bei jeweils einer Stichprobe von mehr als 100 erwachsenen Personen in Belgien und in den USA angewendet wurde. Die Ergebnisse stützen Boorstin insofern, als beide Länderstichproben zu Skalenwerten führen, die mit den theoretischen sozialwirtschaftlichen Erwartungen übereinstimmen.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agnew, J. C. (1983). The consuming vision of Henry James. In R. W. Fox & T. J. Lears (Eds.),The culture of consumption, pp. 65–100. New York: Pantheon.
Belk, R. W. (1988). Possessions and the extended self.Journal of Consumer Research, 15, 139–168.
Boorstin, D. J. (1973).The Americans: The democratic experience. New York: Random House.
Brunell, B. (1950).The human community: Its philosophy and practice for a time of crisis. New York: Harper & Row.
Chavis, D. M., Hogge, J. H., McMillan, D. W., & Wandersman, A. (1986). Sense of community through Brunswik's Lens: A first look.Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 24–40.
Cowan, P. A. (1975). Community psychology: The emperor without clothes.Contemporary Psychology, 20, 297–299.
Davidson, W. B., & Cotter, P. R. (1989). Sense of community and political participation.Journal of Community Psychology, 17, 119–125.
Davidson, W. B., & Cotter, P. R. (1986). Measurement of sense of community within the sphere of the city.Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 16, 608–619.
Douglas, M. (1979).The world of goods. New York: Basic Books.
Dunham, H. W. (1986). The community today: Place or process.Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 399–403.
Durkheim, E. (1964).The division of labor in society. New York: Free Press (original work published in 1893).
Fessler, D. R. (1952). The development of a scale for measuring community solidarity.Rural Sociology, 17, 144–152.
Fischer, C. S. (1976).The urban experience. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Friedman, M. (1991).A “brand” new language: Commercial influences in literature and culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (1980). The “mainstreaming” of America.Journal of Communication, 30, 10–27.
Glynn, T. J. (1981). Psychological sense of community: Measurement and application.Human Relations, 34, 780–818.
Glynn, T. J. (1986). Neighborhood and sense of community.Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 341–352.
Gusfeld, J. R. (1975).The community: A critical response. New York: Harper Colophan.
Hawkins, R., & Pingree, S. (1982). Television's influence on constructions of social reality. In: D. Pearl, L. Bouthilet, & J. Lazar (Eds.),Television and behavior, pp. 224–247. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. Technical report.
Heider, F. (1958).The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: Wiley.
Horowitz, D. (1985).The morality of spending. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Hunter, A. (1975). The loss of community: An empirical test through replication.American Sociological Review, 40, 537–552.
Hunter, A. (1979). The urban neighborhood: Its analytical and social context.Urban Affairs Quarterly, 14, 267–288.
Klein, J. K., & D'Aunno, T. A. (1986). Psychological sense of community in the workplace.Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 365–377.
McCracken, G. (1988).Culture and consumption. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
McMillan, D. W., & Chavis, D. M. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory.Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 6–23.
Miller, D. (1987).Material culture and mass consumption. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Miller, M. C. (1990). Hollywood: The ad.The Atlantic, 265, 41–54.
Minar, D. W., & Greer, S. (1969).The concept of community. Chicago: Aldine.
Munson, J. M., & Spivey, W. A. (1981). Product and brand-user stereotypes among social classes.Journal of Advertising Research, 21, 37–48.
Newbrough, J. R., & Chavis, D. M. (1986). Psychological sense of community, I: Foreword.Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 3–5.
Nisbet, R. (1962).Community and power. New York: Oxford University Press.
O'Guinn, T. C., & Shrum, L. J. (1991).Mass-mediated social reality: The social cognition and ecology of economic norms. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology in Stockholm, Sweden.
Pretty, G. M. H. (1990). Relating psychological sense of community to social climate characteristics.Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 60–65.
Price, R. H. (1985). Work and community.American Journal of Community Psychology, 13, 1–12.
Roen, S. R., & Burnes, A. J. (1967). Social roles and adaptation of the community.Community Mental Health Journal, 3, 153–158.
Rudmin, F. W. (1990). Header's cognitive theory of property and the problem of unnamed and unrecognized property relationships. In: R. Kevelson (Ed.),Law and Semiotics, Volume 3, pp. 321–334. New York: Plenum Press.
Sarason, S. B. (1972).The creation of settings and future societies. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Sarason, S. B. (1974).The psychological sense of community: Prospects for a community psychology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Scherer, J. (1972).Contemporary community: Sociological illusion or reality? London: Tavistock.
Schudson, M. (1984).Advertising, the uneasy persuasion. New York: Basic Books.
Segall, M. H., Dasen, P. R., Berry, J. W., & Poortinga, Y. H. (1990).Human behavior in global perspective. Elmsford, NY: Pergamon Press.
Warren, D. (1969). Neighborhood structure and riot behavior in Detroit: Some exploratory findings.Social Problems, 16, 464–484.
Warren, D. (1975). Six kinds of neighborhoods.Psychology Today, 9, 74–79.
Warren, D., & Warren, R. B. (1975).The neighborhood organizer's handbook. South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
Wellman, B. (1979). The community question: The intimate networks of East Yorkers.American Journal of Sociology, 84, 1201–1231.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Koen De Vos is a Research Assistant at the same institution.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Friedman, M., Vanden Abeele, P. & De Vos, K. Boorstin's consumption community concept: A tale of two countries. J Consum Policy 16, 35–60 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01024589
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01024589